UFC middleweight king Dricus du Plessis, since defending his title for the first time against former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC Perth, has been absent from the spotlight. This has left the MMA community puzzled and on edge, wondering when this ‘African King’ will return to the Octagon. However, that return now seems imminent, according to Du Plessis’ coach Morne Visser, who recently spilled the beans on Submission Radio. He confirmed that Stillknocks will fight in February in the UFC 312 in Sydney.

“I had a conversation actually yesterday with Dricus. I said to him, ‘There’s only one thing for certain at this stage, only one thing, and that’s that we’ve got to be ready to fight in Sydney in February.’” Visser said in the conversation. So who might be standing against him?

Dricus Du Plessis outclassed his greatest rival at UFC 305 on August 17. The middleweight champion scored a dramatic fourth-round win over Israel Adesanya that marked the former’s first submission loss of his career. Since then, he has a number of options ahead of him for the next fight.

The list includes the winner of the UFC 308 clash between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev, a rematch with Sean Strickland, or even a fight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Visser, during the conversation, also gave his take on Stillknock’s next opponent. It’s surely a rematch. But here is the twist: It is not against Strickland!

“My honest opinion is that next in line for us will be Whittaker in Sydney in February,” Visser stated. For context, Du Plessis had defeated Rob in a title eliminator via second-round TKO in the UFC 290 last year. According to Visser, Strickland is “overselling” it because, since his loss against Du Plessis in the UFC 297, he only has one win against Paulo Costa in the UFC 302.

Whereas, Rob has two wins after the loss (Paulo Costa, UFC 298 and Ikram Aliskerov, UFC on ABC). Interestingly, Visser declared that very soon this will become three. No points for the guess. Stillknock’s coach heavily sided with Rob for his upcoming fight against Khamzat Chimaev on October 26 in the UFC 308. He also explained why he thought so.

“I think that Khamzat—I mean, that fight against [Kamaru] Usman, who’s a genuine welterweight, was way too close for me. His standup is, in my opinion, suspect, his wrestling, he couldn’t do anything with Usman. Rob’s standup is phenomenal. His wrestling and his ground work’s awesome. I honestly think Khamzat’s out of his league here. He’s got to go back to welter where he maybe stands a chance to become something or become a champion,” Visser noted while also predicting, it is not “going to be on points. He’s going to grind him.”

Looking back, we can recall that Rob had declared the loss as a wake-up call for him. And during the latest conversation Visser declared that Rob learns from his mistakes quickly. But despite that, he believes that a rematch against Rob will be not a difficult one. “I don’t need to do a lot of adjustments to get Dricus to beat Rob again I just need Dricus to focus a little bit more on being calmer and connective. You guys haven’t seen anything of Dricus yet,” Visser teased.

Amid all these, there was a lot of anticipation about Alex Pereira’s move to 185 pounds. However, at his UFC 307 media day appearance, he was asked whether he would move up or cut back to 185 to challenge Du Plessis. Pereira clearly stated that planned to remain in 205 pounds only. So, a bout between Pereira and Du Plessis does not look to be happening anytime soon.

This revelation comes just a day after Adesanya’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, where he mentioned a potential fight with ‘Stillknocks’ next year. However, ‘The Last Stylebender’ first wants to avenge his loss against Sean Strickland in UFC 293 which he lost before the Du Plessis loss.

But Rogan reminded him about the ongoing rumors of the UFC planning Strickland vs. Du Plessis 2, to which Adesanya chimed in, “We’ll see. We’ll see what happens in that fight. Look, I kind of like the feeling of not knowing because sometimes people ask, ‘Who are you going to fight next? When are you going to fight next?’ I don’t know. I’m just chilling. I’m just going to keep training.” However, despite being snubbed by Du Plessis, ‘The Last Stylebender’ still favors supporting his fighter against ‘Tarzan’, no matter what happens.

Adesanya chose Dricus Du Plessis rather than Sean Strickland

Since his debut in the UFC, South African prospect Dricus du Plessis has derailed everyone who has come in front of him. However, even while remaining undefeated, he has always been considered the underdog, which was more highlighted in his last two fights, first against Sean Strickland earlier this year, and then against former champion Israel Adesanya half a year later. Even when ‘The Last Stylebender’ was the clear fan favorite, chosen by the oddsmakers at ‘BestFights’ Odds, ‘Stillknocks’ turned the predictions upside down once again with his unique fighting style.

Despite the defeat, Israel Adesanya maintained a gracious demeanor while speaking on “The Adam Carolla Show” podcast. When the host asked ‘The Last Stylebender’ about the potential rematch between Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis, Adesanya chose ‘Stillknocks’ over ‘Tarzan’, citing his “weird” fighting style.

Du Plessis’ fights combine grappling and striking. He has a background in kickboxing, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu and uses a combination of striking and grappling. He has earned quite a name for his submission abilities, heavy hands, and knockout strength which stands for his nickname “Stillknocks.” What makes him stand out is his ability to adjust to various fighting styles and perceive the movements of his opponents.

Keeping all that in mind, Adesanya continued, “They already fought before. I fought both of them. I think Du Plessis might get it done again. He’s just so weird. The way he fights is awkward. He’s stubborn. No matter how tired he gets, he’ll still just throw, just to stop you in your tracks or stop you from doing what you’re doing. And he’ll just throw and hope. It wouldn’t really land, but it would stop what you’re trying to progress.”

What are your thoughts on Dricus du Plessis’ remarks? Do you believe Robert Whittaker is the ideal opponent for ‘Stillknocks’, or should he face Israel Adesanya or Sean Strickland first? Drop your opinion below.